Free trials of Rotageek’s proprietary solutions are being offered to the NHS to assist in supporting medical teams which are facing exceptionally complex scheduling problems during the COVID-19 crisis.
Incoming institutional investor Calculus Capital and Mobeus, which first invested in Rotageek in 2018, have together participated in a £6 million new investment round, alongside angel investors.
Rotageek uses cloud-based technology and automatic scheduling to help multi-site businesses manage and schedule staff to meet demand, drive efficiency and reduce costs. The tool uses machine learning to identify patterns which may otherwise go unnoticed and its apps make it easier for staff to swap and cover shifts and know when they are working.
Rotageek has already established a strong position in the UK retail sector, working with High Street names such as Prêt a Manger, The Perfume Shop, Dune, Pets at Home and O2. It is likely to play a big role in helping retailers maximise operational efficiency as lockdown is unwound.
The Company was founded by the current CEO Dr Chris McCullough (pictured above), CTO Nick Mann and Professor Roy Pounder. Chris trained as a medical doctor spending 16 years in the NHS and 8 years as an Emergency Medicine Physician at several London based hospitals, including St Mary’s Hospital. The difficulties of managing a shift-based, lean work force provided McCullough with the motivation to establish Rotageek, utilising Mann’s technological ability to create a relevant solution.
The service is currently being offered for free for the next three months to the NHS and wider healthcare teams impacted by the onset of COVID-19. The service will support decision-makers to deliver a fast, effective and coordinated response to substantial fluctuations in demand for hospital care presented by the pandemic.
The offer has attracted significant interest from NHS hospitals and Trusts and is currently being implemented across hospitals nationwide, including the Liverpool Dental Hospital, which has been reorganised into a COVID-19 Urgent Treatment Centre. Rotageek hopes that by improving hospital staff planning, it can help health administrators respond more effectively to the pandemic and ensure necessary access to care.
Chris McCullough, Rotageek CEO, says: “It’s our mission to create a step change in scheduling to improve not only how businesses and organisations run their operations, but to also positively and significantly impact the lives of shift-based employees. As a [former] doctor, I am particularly passionate about taking those benefits to the healthcare sector. We are excited about this new funding round, are pleased to welcome Calculus and to receive continued support from Mobeus.”
Greg Blin, who led the Series A & B investments for Mobeus and who sits on the Rotageek board, added: ““Workforce management is crying out for innovation, as existing manual processes and legacy solutions are unable to effectively meet the demands of a modern-day enterprise workforce. Rotageek’s technologically advanced proposition is proven to solve this issue, and effectively competes against much larger players. I’m delighted to continue to support this strong and capable management team from Series A to Series B.”
Alexander Crawford, Co-Head of Investments at Calculus, says” “We were attracted to Rotageek by the strength of their management team and their impressive technology, which delivers significant measurable returns for clients. The company has a strong client base in its core sector and with this investment is poised to expand into the global workforce management market, which is valued at over £3bn. We are delighted that Rotageek is also in a position to assist the NHS at this difficult time.”
